Is ananda an emotion?

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

"Harsha V. Dehejia" <hdehejia at CCS.CARLETON.CA> wrote:

>Fellow Indologoists:
>
>In a recent seminar there was heated discussion whether ananda (bliss) is a
>state of being or is it an exalted human emotion? The speaker argued that
>ananda is not an emotion. Any thoughts?
>

Perhaps the most extensive discussions of Ananda are found in the vedAnta
schools. Check the commentaries of various authors on brahmasUtra 1. 1.
12-19, bRhadAraNyaka upanishad 3. 9. 28 and taittirIya upanishad 2. 1-5.
Also see maNDana miSra's brahmasiddhi 1. 2-6, where Ananda as an experience
(na saMvedyaH karmatva abhAvAt) is distinguished from Ananda as a state of
being that is self-luminous (na ca asaMvedyaH svaprakASatvAt). For a
nyAya-vaiSeshika perspective, see vAtsyAyana's nyAyabhUshaNa, which
criticizes an equation of the state of liberation with an experience of
Ananda.

Vidyasankar

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